Nipping to the shops is always a battle when you’re disabled

When a mother in a wheelchair was told to take her son to ‘another branch of Clarks’ because the children’s department was upstairs, it wasn’t just a case of everyday ableism – it was poor customer service, writes James Moore

Jessica Hall was told by an assistant at Clarks in Epsom, Surrey, that ‘if we could guarantee we would be purchasing shoes, then they would assist…’ (Getty)

Jessica Hall had not intended to buy shoes for her son while she was out shopping in Epsom, Surrey, with him and her mother but, she told me: “He looked uncomfortable.” So, naturally, a visit to Clarks was in order.

Like me, Hall is a former Clarks kid. Like me, she has a medical condition which means she has to be careful with her feet. Partly because of this, her mum always insisted on Clarks – with their measuring devices and their reputation for high standards and quality footwear. As did mine. And Hall has carried on that tradition with her son.

The problem for her, as a wheelchair user, is that the kids’ shoes in the Epsom branch are on an upper floor, accessible only via a flight of stairs. To be honest, this seems a strange choice on the part of the retailer given, you know, pushchairs and prams and buggies. Parents are often encumbered with these, whether disabled or not; stairs could thus create a problem for a large number of customers.